Biography
J.B. Beverley was born in Virginia in 1977. Reared in a musical household, Beverley grew up on early country, bluegrass, rockabilly, big band, and various forms of old time blues. By his teens, the punk bug had bit, and nights at DC's 9:30 Club, and other haunts, became the norm.
Learning the drums and guitar, J.B. formed his first band The Bad Habits in 1993 or 1994. An old-school punk sound, rooted in influences like The Misfits, FEAR, Black Flag, and Motörhead, the Bad Habits made an small name for themselves in the DC area. The band broke up in 1996, and J.B. went through two short-lived bands inside of a year.
With the Bad Habits gone, Beverley drifted around off and on. Working odd jobs and traveling by bus and freight train, J.B. began writing old time country blues songs and busking on various street corners to get by. He soon began commuting between the Washington DC area and New York City in 1998 when he became the front-man for The Murder Junkies, former band of the late GG Allin. The gig lasted over a year, but ended when Beverley found himself at odds with the law back in the DC area.
In 1999, after dealing with the legal issues, J.B. spent several months in Florida compiling his country blues songs, and re-learning some old standards. He emerged back in the DC area later that year with his honky-tonk outfit J.B. Beverley and The Wayward Drifters, and subsequently began touring locally and regionally with the band.
In the fall of 2002, J.B. formed another punk rock band in the same vein as the Bad Habits called The Little White Pills. Reminiscent of the Bad Habits, the Little White Pills were a heavier, more refined band, with a rough edge and some mature playing. The Little White Pills released a self-produced CD in 2003 called "Live At The Velvet Lounge", and did a summer tour that year, and a couple of week-enders the next year.
In 2004, J.B. rejoined the Murder Junkies for two tours, and the Wayward Drifters released a self-produced CD entitled "Highball". J.B. also found time to record some local projects and work on new material for all of his respective bands. He also made a cameo appearance in Fred Vogel's "August Underground's Penance".
In 2005, the Wayward Drifters launched a spring tour called "The American Highball Tour", and spent most of the summer touring with friend Hank Williams III. The Wayward Drifters immediately hit the studio after the summer touring and have recorded their debut studio CD titled "Dark Bar & A Juke Box" for Helltrain Records (Beverley's own label). The CD has been met with rave reviews and praise from all over the world.
J.B. and the Wayward Drifters have been pretty much touring non-stop (both regionally and nationally) since the release of "Dark Bar". The band is the subject of an upcoming documentary film by Wayward Souls productions (no title as of yet), and J.B. has taken part in a 914 Pictures documentary film about his friend Bobby Lielbing. The working title of this film is "Last Rites: The Fall and Rise of Bobby Liebling". Between tours, J.B. has been working on a long-awaited metal side project called Ghostdance.
